Without You I'm Incomplete
by FeJoy29
Summary: For the first time in a long time she decided to listen to her mind and not her heart. Now she has lost everything, and feels like her life is a waist. She needs reassurance and a rainy night changes everything. Troyella.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello again! I got the sudden urge to write this late last night and I'm quite proud of it. This is dedicated to and inspired by ****LoverlyBabyZ.x****and her story 'Tears and Rain.' I just love these types of stories. Right now this is a ****TwoShot****, maybe possibly more if I get enough reviews and suggestions and such. I really hope you all like it, please review and let me know! **

* * *

**Without You I'm Incomplete **

**Part 1:**

Some people would say that dark clouds and a heavy downpour would indicate feelings of isolation and helplessness. Others would say it's a sign of emotional release where you can cleanse and refresh your body.

It wasn't quite clear to this girl which she was feeling, if she was feeling anything at all. Her smile had permanently disappeared. Her life was so beyond screwed up that she couldn't stand to live it. She just wanted to go crawl up into her Daddy's lap and cry her eyes out for hours on end while he continually rubbed his arm up and down her back while reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.

It wasn't though, everything had changed, and it was all for the worse.

She wasn't a little girl anymore; she was a young lady at the age of seventeen. She couldn't go crawling to Daddy for Daddy was no longer alive. She wasn't going to get any reassurance from anybody else either, because there was no one left to reassure her of anything. She had pushed them all away.

It was hard to put one foot in front of the other at this point. Her clothes were so heavy because of the rain that had soaked them. Troy's basketball sweatshirt that she had stolen from him after he left it at her house months ago was weighing her down. There was no way that she would ever take it off though. In a small way, it made her feel like he was still with her.

Two weeks. Three days. Six hours. And quite a few minutes. That's when Gabriella Montez told Troy Bolton goodbye. That's also when she made the biggest mistake of her life, but refused to admit that even to herself. She was scared and she pushed him away.

Gabriella had grown extremely close to Troy over the past two years. She had begun to trust him with her entire soul, and would always go to him whenever something went wrong. They grew the most beautiful friendship either one could have ever imagined. Everyone was jealous of the two of them.

Then at one point Gabriella's mother had to go away for a week to New York for her job, and Gabriella asked Troy to keep her company. She hated being alone and just wanted her best friend in the entire world to keep her safe. They found themselves deciding on sitting by the fire drinking hot chocolate and talking about everything that came to their minds. This was when Troy decided to take the next big step and confess every feeling he had bottled up inside of him.

Those feelings would include how every morning, she's the first thing he thinks of, and every night she's the last thing he thinks of. They would include how every time he hears her laugh, his knees go weak and he can't stop staring at her in complete admiration. They would include the fact that every night he can barely hold himself back from getting up and going over to her house, climbing up to her balcony, breaking into her room, and sneakily climbing into bed with her and holding her close to his body all night long. They would include the fact that every single time that he lays his eyes on her, all he wants to do is grab her face between his two hands and kiss her with all of the meaning and love in the world.

That night by the fireplace Gabriella couldn't stop crying at every single word that he spoke to her. It touched her heart completely to know that someone felt this much about her. Even better was that she could say she felt the same about him back.

From then on the two of them became even closer and started to fall deeply in love with one another. Eventually, Gabriella got scared. She started to dream about her Father's accident again and couldn't help the feeling's deep down in her stomach that the same thing could happen to Troy.

Gabriella loved her father with all of her heart; he was her rock. Every morning he would make her breakfast, and every night he would help cook dinner. She was his little angle, and together they could take on anything.

She wasn't prepared at all for her father's death. She had no time to say goodbye to her father, and she always feared that the same thing could happen again to anyone. She got her heart broken and it's never quite repaired itself.

When her feelings with Troy started to get deeper and deeper, she feared that the same thing would happen again. The only option that she saw was to let go of Troy and forget that she loved him. Fortunately and unfortunately, that was incredibly impossible. The entire school reminded her of what she had lost every single day. Her friends had abandoned her after the day when she lashed out at them for hassling her about the whole Troy thing.

* * *

_I tried to go on like I never knew you__  
I'm awake but my world is half asleep  
__I pray for this heart to be unbroken__  
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

* * *

And here she was standing above her father's grave, praying for him to send her a sign that everything was going to be okay. She had been out here for a long time now. When she left her empty house it was 7:45, and that was a long time ago. It didn't matter though, it's not like anyone would be looking for her. Her mother was out of town, yet again.

It had started raining once Gabriella had started to walk to her father's cemetery. Of course she could have drove, but she needed time for herself to think. She just wanted to breathe and bask in some fresh air.

Her clothes were glued to her body, her hair was a big curly ball of mess and frizz, her make-up was running down her face, and her shoes felt like buckets filled with water. None of that mattered to her, she had dealt with worse.

None of this made sense to her. Was this the life that was really meant for her? Because if it was, then man did that suck. She hadn't smiled in days, and hadn't laughed in weeks. All of her happiness was gone, and she was the only one to blame for that.

The rain was coming down so hard that Gabriella could no longer hear herself think. All she could do was cry. Cry over being left behind, cry over her unfair life, cry over her fear of letting herself love someone, cry over not living every day to the fullest, cry over giving up the best thing that has ever happened to her, cry over how bad she just wanted her Daddy again. Cry, cry, and cry. She was absolutely hysterical.

"WHY ME?! What did I do that was so horrible? I just don't understand! Was it because I lied to my mother that one time when she asked me if I had stolen money from her wallet? Was it because I punched little Timmy in the stomach and then blamed it on his sister? Was it because I always wanted more than what I had? Or was it that I'm not good enough for happiness? Please tell me! I just want to know why you're so disappointed in me! What the hell did I fucking do wrong! ANSWER ME!!"

Gabriella was staring deeply up into the pitch black sky begging for someone up above to give her some answers. She was sick and tired of living such a miserable life. She was so sick of having everything go wrong. She just wanted to be happy again.

"The only thing that you did wrong was let me go."

Immediately, Gabriella dropped her head in defeat. He had found her and admitted what she had been too begrudging about to admit.

* * *

**AN: So there it is. I can't tell you what's going to happen next. Let me know what your predictions are though! Tell me what you would love to see ****too**** and maybe I can do something about it ;) Thank you for reading, and please, please, please review!!**

**FiFi ****xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This chapter or part is dedicated to ****xo LAILAIxo****For.A.Moment****LoverlyBabyZ.x****pinksuugar****xxZanessaxx****, and ****Horse Jumper****, my amazing reviewers. I really appreciate it. Thanks to you I know that someone likes it. You make it all worth it. I'm still not sure if I'm going to make this into a story, or if this is it, but please let me know what your opinion is.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

_Just remember it's all for you   
I'll do my best to bring a smile to your day   
I'll say the things that make your worries fade away   
Create a common for your peace of mind   
It's all for you and you are mine_

* * *

The rain hit her face like stones being thrown at a window. She couldn't see anything in front of her, and all her body felt was cold water swallowing her up. She was in pain; too much pain for one teenager to handle. It was all becoming too much. No, it had already become too much, she couldn't do it anymore; she didn't want to do it anymore.

She let her body give out and fell to the muddy ground beneath her feet, landing on her father's grave. She ran her fingers over it with tears pouring out of her eyes and down her face. She needed someone to comfort her. The thing was that she had someone to comfort her, but she pushed him away. What the hell was wrong with her? If only her Daddy had never died.

'It hurts too much. It's just so damn hard. You don't get it…' Gabriella barely whispered this not caring if her visitor heard her or not. She simply let one of her feelings out.

She heard no response and started to wonder if maybe she had imagined his voice in the first place. Oh well, she most likely did and she didn't care. She didn't expect him to ever speak to her again anyways.

Going to school sucked even more now because every time she would ever see Troy, he never raised his eyes. He was always looking down and the amount of sadness in his eyes was overwhelming. She could see the hurt and devastation in him, everyone could. He didn't talk to anyone anymore and kept to himself all day long. That was all her fault.

He had even considered quitting the basketball team because he could barely get a ball in the net anymore. He hadn't played in a single basketball game in a while now and he had no plans to change that. His head was somewhere else but the basketball court. That was all her fault.

Chad had the audacity to shove Troy's report card in her face the other day too. She couldn't help but gasp at the sight of it. She had never seen him do that poorly before in her life. Troy was actually one of the smartest guys that she knew, and he definitely made her proud when it came to his schoolwork. But he had fallen over the deep end and his grade significantly showed this. That was all her fault.

Gabriella ran her small fingers through the engraving of her fathers name once more.

'Why did you have to leave me Daddy? I…I really need you. It's so hard to go on every single day without you by my side. Mommy keeps saying that in time, the hurt will fade, only to be replaced by positive memories that soothe the soul. The hurt won't fade Daddy; I've tried so hard, it just won't go away.'

'I keep thinking of that night and how it is my entire fault. I should have waited until the weekend to go and get those supplies, but I made you go out and get them. I was so stubborn, and look where it got me.'

'I'll never be able to forgive myself…I'm...I'm such a horrible person. You must hate me…you must not…not want me here…I guess…I should leave I guess…I love you…More than you will ever know…You're my…my everything Daddy…My everything…Just remember…I love you.'

With the sobbing also came her now shaking body and hysterical hiccups. She had to leave his grave, escape her mistakes and go somewhere to suffer even more. That's what she deserved for all of the trouble that she had caused. She was a horrible person that deserved only the worst.

She stood up and started to back up. Her hair was being blown around harshly and the cold rain was darting into her face. Even with the loud wind and rain, her sobbing and small screams could still be heard.

A deep stare was casted upon Gabriella's father's grave as she moved her body backwards never knowing when to stop. Then she felt it and bolted away.

She knew who it was as she could never forget the way that his body felt against her own. She had had plenty of sleepovers with him to know exactly how his body felt. She knew the heat that came off of his body was his and she would never forget it either. She missed it more than ever.

She whipped her body around to finally take a look at him. He looked beyond tired and stressed out. He was wearing his favorite pair of Abercrombie & Fitch Baxter low rise dark wash destroyed jeans that Gabriella had bought him for his last birthday. Covering his chest was the top that Gabi had given him with the jeans: an Abercrombie & Fitch green Ampersand Mountain collared button up shirt. Over that was his white basketball warm up fleece jacket.

Gabriella could see his abs and chest through his now drenched collared shirt. His hands were shoved into the front pockets of his jeans and he his hair was completely drenched and matted to his forehead. He was completely irresistible, how on earth could she have ever given him up? Oh yes, that's right. She forgot that she has quite some issues to work through.

In his eyes was something she had never seen before, nor did she ever want to see again. It broke her heart to look at him and see this. He looked like a little boy on Christmas who had lost all of his toys and was left with nothing. She saw depression, grief, heartache, misery, sorrow and distress. She saw a person who had so many talents and so many things to live for, yet he was wishing he didn't live at all. That was all her fault.

She couldn't deal with it any more. All she wanted to do was run into his arms and hold him close to her body and say how sorry and stupid she had been. But she couldn't do that; well she could, she just couldn't let herself do that.

Neither one of them said anything. They just stood there trying to look at one another, but the thick rain was making it very difficult.

The intensity was killing her and she had to get out of there. She looked behind her at her father's grave once more, than turned to look Troy in the eyes again. The next thing she knew she was running past Troy and moving as fast as her feet would take her. She ran and ran and ran, searching for an escape.

Back at the cemetery, Troy was struck with shock, as he did not expect Gabriella to run away from him. Coming to his senses, he turned around and started to sprint in the direction that she went. He was determined to find her again.

It became too hard for Gabriella to run any longer as the wind gusts had picked up speed and were blowing directly into her face. The clothes that she was wearing made her feel like she was carrying another person on her back. She had made it a few blocks from the cemetery to her favorite park that she visited often.

Making her way over to the large spruce tree that she has come to know and love, she finally stopped and bent over to catch her breath. She placed her hand on her warm forehead and winced as a wave of dizziness washed over her body. No longer being able to hold herself up, she allowed her legs to give out beneath her and fell to the ground under the tree.

Moments later after coming to a complete stop, Troy finally spotted Gabi lying down under the tree. The rain continued to pour down on their bodies making it hard for either one of them to see. He jogged over to her helpless body and stopped next to her. After noticing she wasn't moving, he quietly called out her name in hopes of making sure that she was okay.

There was no response though, no sign of life at all.

Fearing the worst, Troy fell down to the mushy ground beneath him and frantically shook her body.

'Gabi. GABI! Wake up baby, please, don't do this to me. Come on, WAKE UP!'

* * *

**AN: So I've decided that I want to keep this story going on for a while longer. I'm not sure how long though. I love the ending to this story, and I really hope you loved it all. Please, please let me know what you think! I'm dying to hear what you have to say! It will definitely make my day. Thanks again for supporting me and reading my story. I also just updated my other story, ****Hidden Desire****, so you should definitely check ****that out too****! Thanks again!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry it took so long for me to update! Thank you to all of the reviewers for the last chapter: **xoLAILAIxo, For.A.Moment, LoverlyBabyZ.x, xxZanessaxx, Horse Jumper, YaDoDOBird, HSMLUVER218, HSMBonesFan, beachblondi101, Line 101, and efrongrl. **This chapter is dedicated to all of the girls out there that dream of their night-and-shinning-armor (preferably Zac Efron) and to all of the guys that would love to do that for their ladies. Please enjoy and review!!!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The rain continued to drench the two souls, causing chaos, worry and shock. Troy's heart was going to burst if the love of his life didn't open her eyes any time soon.

There was a time when Gabriella didn't want to live anymore. She just wanted all of her pain and misery to end, and in order for that to happen, her life would have to end. Now that it was getting close to that, she was strongly regretting wishing for this to happen.

She felt nothing, saw nothing, but wanted everything she couldn't have. She wanted life, she wanted happiness, she wanted love, and she wanted to smile.

'Gabriella! What's happening? Oh my god! SOMEONE HELP ME!'

No one heard his desperate cry's for help. There was no one at the park right now, especially in this kind of weather.

He felt like his world was coming to an end. Why hadn't he fought harder for their relationship? Why didn't he try to prove to her that he wasn't her father? He should have done things differently, but he didn't. He would never be able to forgive himself, especially if something happened to her.

Gabriella would never blame Troy for any of this. She couldn't handle the life that was chosen for her and this is what happened. She was too weak to be able to deal with it.

Troy realized then that there was only one thing left to do. He reluctantly removed her body out of his arms and softly placed her down on the wet grass. Looking at her one more time, he lifted her chin up and proceeded to perform the best CPR he could on Gabriella.

It was ironic that here he was doing this to Gabi when only months before they had both joked that something like this would never happen to them.

**Flashback**

_It wasn't like any other day here at East High School. Instead of just regular classes today, the town of Albuquerque had brought in its paramedics and fire rescue team. Today was Life Saving Day and the only reason any of the students were happy was because it was a day free of school work. Every grade would stick __together separately__ in either the lunchroom, gym or lecture hall. This year, Troy and Gabriella's class was stuck up in the lecture hall. The only rules were that you had to follow all of the directions given to you and you had __to pair yourself up with a partner. _

_Of course Troy and Gabriella went straight towards one another and Troy draped his arm over her shoulder._

_'Ready to go save some baby dolls?' joked Troy._

_'More than ever!' Gabriella joked right back._

_The two of them settled down on one of the mats in the corner of the room and waited to be given a doll. Once they had one__ they opened up the pamphlet and tried their hardest to interpret what it was saying._

_'I don't get it. You can go first,' complained Gabriella._

_'Well then let me teach you,' replied Troy with an evil smirk._

_Troy grabbed a hold of Gabriella__'s arms and gently brought her down __on her back __onto the mat. Troy straddled her hips and placed the most passionate kiss he could on her soft lips. At first Gabriella was caught off guard and a little shy about the PDA, but soon forgot all of that existed once Troy asked for entrance into her mouth. She found herself being lost in his touch, and drowning in his kiss. She was experiencing complete bliss in a place called heaven._

_Troy separated his mouth from hers and stared deeply at his amazing girlfriend. Her eyes were still closed and he placed a kiss on each eye lid._

_'So that's how you bring someone back to life?' asked Gabriella dreamily._

_'There's that and some other ways too, but they aren't made for the public's eyes.'_

_'Troy!'_

_'Yes my little Bella?'_

_Troy knew that would make her stop herself from smacking him after that inappropriate comment. Bella meant beautiful in Italian and every time Troy would call her that, she would melt in his embrace. It made her so happy._

_'I'm letting __you get away with that this one time smarty pants.'_

_'Whatever you say.'_

_'I really hope I don't ever stop breathing or something like that when you're around, because clearly you have no idea what you're doing in that area. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't mind being woken up that way, ever. That makes me happy.' Gabriella couldn't help but smile at her adorable boyfriend, he was simply the best._

_'Well, I highly doubt that something like that would ever happen to you or me. And if it ever happened to me, I already know I'm screwed.'_

_'Troy!'_

**End Flashback**

Thank goodness that Troy had already known how to do CPR before that day and he still did, because if he didn't, he would never be able to forgive himself.

He repeated all of the steps to CPR over and over again in his head before he finally began the process on her body. The first few time there was no response and he was starting to get extremely worried. He would have called 911 a long time ago, but he had left it at his house when he first decided to go over to her house and talk to her.

He went to her house because he simply couldn't live without her anymore. It was tearing his heart apart. He had had more than enough of it and he needed to talk to her. He didn't care if she didn't want to listen; he was going to tell it to her anyway. Along with that reason, he also felt an obligation to her father to go and check up on his only daughter, who was most likely home all by her self in this horrible rain storm. She always felt miserable during those types of storms, and usually Troy was there to comfort her. But this time he wasn't, and he didn't like that one bit.

After he knocked on the door and rang the doorbell numerous times with no response, Troy pulled out his keys where he kept a spare key to her house. Gabriella's mother had given it to him a while ago in case there was ever an emergency. When he entered the abandoned house, he knew that she had simply upped and walked out of the house and into the pouring rain. There was supper on the table that she had made and a small bite had been taken out of if, but that was all. Her chair was left pushed out into the open and all of the lights were left on. She had most likely just gotten a desire to get out of her house all of a sudden and leave the place that she called hell.

He instinctively knew where she had gone, as she had done this many times before. They were spontaneous things, but she had to do it or else she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him, her father. This usually happened to her when there was a storm of some sort, because it reminded her of that night. That night that she killed her father.

Coming back to his senses, Troy kept up his steady pace of giving Gabriella CPR and desperately trying to bring her back to life. He needed this to work, as he had no other options, and having her die was definitely not an option either. He needed her more than anything in this world.

'You can do this Gabi, I know you can. I have faith in you; just open your beautiful eyes and show me that you're a fighter. Come on. Please, I'm begging you!'

Troy kept giving her breaths hoping that he could breathe life into her and bring her back to him.

Soon enough, he felt her body start to shake and she was coughing strenuously. It was a miracle.

'Shhhh, don't talk, just lay still, I have you.'

Troy picked up her body once more and cradled her weak and drenched body in his arms. He placed his arms securely around her body and was never going to let go. She simply laid her head down against his chest and desperately tried to regain her breathing back.

She had no idea as to what had just happened. All she remembered was feeling extremely dizzy and lightheaded and then hearing a voice in her head. She knew that that voice belonged to her father and he was telling her she needed a break. She had pushed her body too far and it wasn't capable of continuing on any longer.

Then her entire world went black and all she could hear was the loud clashing of rain falling all over her body aiming to wash her away from this world. She would have let it too if it wasn't for a certain someone begging her to stay with him. She knew that he was there, she could tell by the feeling of his arms around her weak body and the touch of his mouth on hers. She knew that the air being breathed into her body belonged to him and only him, and she knew that he was trying to save her. For that reason alone she had to fight too so that she could come back to him.

'Uuuggghhhh…'

'Don't say anything Gabi; just try to catch your breath. You're safe now, everything's okay.'

Troy repeatedly placed kisses on her forehead and in her hair before deciding that he needed to get her out of this weather and fast. She could get really sick if she didn't start to warm up pretty soon. Using all of the strength that Troy had, he pushed himself up off of the ground with Gabriella still in his arms bridal style. He then started to walk in the direction of her house while willing his aching body to keep itself together.

* * *

**AN: That was really hard to write, I was clueless the entire time and all I kept thinking was that I have to stretch this out for a while. I didn't want this chapter to be too short and I tried my hardest not to. I've decided that there will only be one more chapter to this short little story. I've already got some ideas for the ending, but if you have any you would like to see, please let me know! Don't forget to check out my other stories, ****Hidden Desire****, and my brand new one, ****Silent Admiration****, both of which were just updated. I'm really excited about those two.**** Please review and thanks for reading! I love you all!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello my favorite people in the world! I'm sorry to say, but ****t****his is the final chapter of this intense short story. I am happy though that you all convinced me to keep this story going for a little while longer than I had originally planned. I absolutel****y LOVE this chapter, and I'm SO**** proud of it, I really hope you feel the same. Please give me on****e**** last review on this story and tell me what you think of it! This chapter and entire story is dedicated to my devoted reviewers who I love unconditionally: ****Horse Jumper, ****xxZanessaxx, ****pinksuugar, ****LoverlyBabyZ.x, ****For.A.Moment****, xo****LAILAIxo****, YaDoDOBird,**** HSMLUVER218, ****HSMBonesFan, ****beachblondi101, ****Line 101****, and ****efrongrl****. You make it all worth it.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Troy had finally made it to Gabriella's empty house and walked inside. His arms were killing him and he was thanking god that he hadn't dropped her sleeping body along the way home. Trying to muster up some sort of strength left in his weak body, Troy daringly climbed up the stairs to her second floor and brought them to her bedroom.

Once inside he gently placed her drenched body on her bed. He then turned to her closet and looked for something cozy for her to wear. He picked out one of his basketball sweatshirts that he had been looking for for the past 3 months, and his basketball warm up sweatpants. Funny how the majority of her choices for cozy clothes were actually all his. That made him smile.

Troy made his way back to her bed after he changed himself into another pair of sweats that she had. When he was at her side again, he stopped and just stared down at her.

Her face was the palest he had ever seen, and it was completely tear stained. Her clothes had become a darker color because of what the rain had done to them. Her hair was dripping wet and parts of it were matted onto her forehead. Troy smoothed his hand over her forehead and pushed her hair back out of her closed eyes and then leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Even in the state that she was in, she was still the most beautiful person that he had ever seen. Lying on her bed, she looked so fragile and vulnerable. Her life had fallen apart at the seams and he simply allowed her to push him away during the worst of it. He would never forget what he had stupidly done.

Slowly and gently, Troy proceeded to pull her sweatshirt over her head. Following that was her wife beater and then her jeans. Her jeans took a little more strength because they were drenched and were sticking to her thin legs.

He couldn't help but let his eyes drift over her body; she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Everything about her, inside and out, was stunning.

As he pulled up his sweatpants over her legs, he flinched at the iciness of them. He needed to warm her up fast. Before Troy put another dry wife beater on Gabriella's body, he stopped and let his hands graze over the large bruise that was present on her side. It was from the night that she found out her father had died. She was crying so hysterically that she ended up falling down the stairs as Troy watched in horror from the top of the stairs. He had been trying to comfort her and she ran away from him. He thought that she was dead, and he started to scream for her to respond. He would never forget that night; it was the last time that he was in her house before she broke up with him.

Troy leaned down and gave her side a soft kiss before putting the shirt over her body. He then put the sweatshirt over her head and made sure to sweep her hair out of her eyes again afterward.

After she was settled, he climbed into her bed with her and pulled her body as close to his as possible. He laid her head down on his chest and rapped his arms securely around her body. Finally content with his position, Troy released a deep breath and slowly allowed sleep to overcome his body.

* * *

There was movement in her bed, which startled her enough to wake her up from her deep slumber. Looking down to her waist, she saw that there was a large hand on it under her shirt. Becoming overwhelmed with fear, she flipped her body over only to come face to face with Troy. What on earth was he doing in her bed? 

Then every single activity of the previous night came flooding back into her head, causing her to feel dizzy and she fell back against her bed, crushing Troy's hand on the way down.

'Oww,' muttered Troy.

'Sorry,' whispered Gabriella back.

This got Troy to wake up and when he opened his eyes they landed immediately on Gabi's.

No words were spoken, and the air had suddenly become as thick as Earth's core. Troy was feeling a little happy about the current condition that they were in because he knew that it was inevitable that they were going to talk. He was also feeling a little nervous because he wasn't sure if Gabi was going to flip out and scream at him for having the audacity to sleep in her bed with her when she hadn't even given him any sign that that was okay with her. On the other hand, she might not flip out too much because he may be able to convince her that her life makes more sense with him in it.

Gabriella on the other hand was feeling extremely confused. Just yesterday she thought that there was no way in hell that she would ever be in his presence again, let alone in the same bed as him. She didn't understand how she went from running away from him in the cold, pouring rain, to laying in bed with him feeling the warmth radiate off of his half naked body and comfort her own. Eventually, she realized that it was now or never to confront her feelings for him in front of him. She needed to tell him the truth and she needed to hear what he had to say in response also.

'I…I…it's just…it's just so hard Troy,' making words come out of her own mouth was almost impossible, she had no idea as to where she should start.

Troy knew that this may go on for a while, so he grabbed the sweatshirt that she had been occupying when he fell asleep, but she later took it off in the night and he put it on his own bare chest. He stood up and grabbed her hand and walked them over to the couch on the opposite side of the room. Once seated, Troy turned her body towards his as he turned to face hers and he took her hands in his own and held them tightly.

'Tell me why it's hard Bella,' Troy was desperate to figure this entire thing out. Living without her in his life was complete torture and wrong, he knew that with all of his heart. He was meant to be with her and only her.

'It's just…I wasn't prepared to let my father go…I loved him so god damn much, he was my everything and I was his everything. He made my life complete and he always knew what the right thing to say was. No matter what would happen, he was always my rock and he would always protect me. He showed me what to live for and what to ignore. Because of him, I wanted a future, a family, happiness, everything. He gave me the will to keep going.'

Troy reached his thumb up to whip away the tears that were streaming down her pale angelic face.

'Why did this make you feel like you had to let me go?'

'The thing is…Troy…you…you're just like him.' Gabriella's head lowed immediately after she spoke those words. She had no idea how he would react and instead of stopping to listen, she kept going.

'I love you so much I can't even explain it. It amazes me that that's even possible. You make me want to wake up every single day, just so I can hear your voice and run my hands through your hair. You always stand up for me, you always shield me from the bad things, and you support my every move. You make me want to be the best person that I can be, you make me want to have a future, a family, kids, success and the most happiness possible. I live for the days where you wrap your arms around my body and whisper in my ear how much you love me.'

Troy was dead frozen in his spot. She had never spoken to him like that; she had never expressed her true feelings for him in that way before. Hearing all of those things come out of her made him want to grab her face in his hands and give her the most meaningful kiss he could muster up.

'I...Don't know what to say.'

'I lost him Troy; I lost one of the best things that ever happened to me. I can't even describe to you how much that hurt and how much that killed me inside. I can't even describe it to myself. If I ever lost you…Troy… I know that it would be exactly the same, if not worse. I can't allow myself to go through that again, I'm just trying really hard to look out for myself.

'My Dad once told me that that you need to live by your heart. For the longest time I truly believed that and I always lived by that. I did whatever I felt deep down inside my heart. I listened to my feelings and based my decisions off of them. After losing my Dad, my heart shattered into a million pieces. I didn't know if or how I would ever be able to use it again. All that I had left was my head, my knowledge of right and wrong, and decisions to make. I had to live my life by common sense on ethics and mortality.

'At the time, it just seemed like the common sense thing to do was to push you as far away from me as possible and pray that I would just forget about you and everything we've been through together. I thought that I was doing the right thing for not only myself, but for you too. I felt guilty being with you because I felt like we were sharing laughs that would one day cease to exist. After that day we would both be heart broken, and in order to stop the heartache before it happened, I had to let you go.'

It was now or never for Gabriella, she had to let her entire heart lose and come clean with her true feelings.

'Your Dad was right, you know. And just because he isn't here any longer and your heart may never heal completely, doesn't mean that you should just ignore what he thought about life and what he taught you. That's almost like an insult to him. He wouldn't want you to push away your true feelings and miss out on what life has to offer you. He loved you too much, and you love him too much to just go back on something that you both believed in,' spoke Troy sincerely.

Gabriella looked down at her hands in shame. What Troy was saying was the truth and she felt horrible that she would ever reject something her own father had taught her.

She let go of Troy's warm hands and stood up. She walked over to her window that looked over her backyard. In the back left corner was the vegetable garden that she and her father had started three years ago. She didn't know how she was going to keep it alive without him there to help her.

Her arms were rapped around her body and she felt a few tears fall down her face. Only seconds later did she feel Troy's presence behind her. He brought his right hand up and rubbed the back of her neck as he rubbed his left hand up and down her left arm.

'I'm just so scared Troy, I'm petrified,' whispered Gabi as more tears streamed down her face.

'I know, it's okay to be scared Gabi.'

Troy turned Gabi's body around so that they were face to face. He took her face in his hands and forced her to look up into his eyes.

'The greatest rewards come from the greatest risks Gabi. Sometimes you just have to have hope and keep some faith tucked away in your heart. Anything can happen to anyone at any time. You just have to live in the moment as if you won't have a tomorrow. You can't always focus on the future, because you may not have one. I'd be a horrible person if I just let you live a cautious life and never went out on a limb, because then you wouldn't really be living at all. Please, you have to see this Gabi, you just have to take a risk. Take it with me. I'm begging you.'

'I want to so bad Troy, you have no idea. It's just…'

'No Gabi. There aren't any buts or ifs. It's now or never. Live or die. Stay with me Gabriella; believe in me, I'm begging you from the bottom of my heart. I love you so much; losing you isn't an option for me. I promised your father that I would always protect you and I'm not going to go back on that promise, not now not ever. Please take a chance with me, I promise I'll always protect you with everything that I have.'

There was a moment of silence shared between the two. Gabi's head was still in Troy's shaking hands, but her eyes hand moved down wards. Looking in his eyes and seeing how he truly felt could become too powerful for her at times.

'Gabi,' whispered Troy as he made her look him in the eyes again.

'You promise?'

Troy sighed. 'I promise to be here for you until the day I die, to love you unconditionally, and then some. I promise you that you will never be lonely, unless you request to be alone. I promise to give you everything you will ever need, and if you're lucky I might spoil you a little. I promise to give you my full attention no matter what it is you want, or what I am doing. I promise to never let you suffer, for I will suffer for you. I promise to always keep you warm and safe, and I promise you that no one will ever come between us, for you are the only woman for me in my life.'

Gabi certainly hadn't been expecting an answer such as that. She was blown away by his warm and sensitive words. That was the straw that put everything else together. In that moment she knew that he was right and he had been all along. He was meant for her as she was meant for him. Together they were unstoppable and they would make each other happy like no other.

Standing on her tippy-toes, she moved his hands away from her face and put her own on his face. Taking his breath-taking face in her hands, she softly placed her lips on his, creating sparks between the two love birds instantly. This was where they belonged: together in each others arms, giving each other warmth and happiness. They were the other half to their souls, the joy in their lives, the breath that was taken away from them; the only thing on this planted that made them feel complete. Without the other they were incomplete.

The End

* * *

**AN:**** Thank you ALL once again for reading this story and supporting me. I love you all and you all helped make me a little happier. Please do that again and review, even if all you have to say is just one word, please! It will make me so happy to hear what you have to say. Plus, I had a crappy Christmas, so I could really use some mood lifters. If you love this story, check out my other ones too! I just put up a second half to my TwoShot ****I Do Want It****, and I put up chapter 2 the other day to ****Silent Admiration****. There's also ****Hidden Desire****! Please tell me what you think, and once again, thank you all and Happy Holidays & I wish you all a safe and healthy 2008!  
**

**FiFi****xoxo**


End file.
